Alone Time by Sereia

Chapter 1

Sesshoumaru hissed as Kagome attempted to run the comb through his hair. She bit her lip, holding the hair in place as she tried to work out the knots. "I'm doing my best."

"I do not blame you, mate."

She kissed his shoulder, then continued with her task, trying to get whatever was stuck to his hair out without having to physically cut it out. "I can't even tell what this is."

"Something inedible," he said with a grunt, leaning against the end of their private spring. Kagome was straddling the back of his legs, pressed against his back as she ran warm water over the mess in his hair.

"I thought you didn't cook."

"I do not. But the children intend to create something for the kit's graduation." He flinched as his comb got caught again, then sighed. "From scratch."

She reached over his shoulder, grabbing the shampoo bottle, hoping it would loosen things up. "Why isn't Souten helping them?" she asked. The lightning youkai hated cooking too, but she was still more capable—and less likely to set something on fire.

"The scent-aversion you mentioned has hit her in the second trimester instead of the first." She sighed, managing to get some of his hair unstuck. They'd all thought Souten was in the clear, getting through the first few months seemingly symptom-free, but now they were converging all at once, and the poor youkai was miserable.

"Is she still staticky?" she asked, dragging the comb through his hair again, this time with much better results. They didn't have the modern tools to track her pregnancy, but she'd suddenly developed a build-up of uncontrollable electricity, zapping anyone she touched.

Except Shippou.

It wasn't until Sesshoumaru had mentioned fetal-youkai tendencies to protect their mother even before they were born that Kagome even considered the possibility Souten was carrying. It hadn't happened with her own pregnancies because her reiki did it for her. Granted, Riku had reiki, which was completely in tune with Sora's youki, but Mizuki had come five years prior, and no one had known what to expect between the union of a miko and a daiyoukai—especially one of Sesshoumaru's calibre.

"Not so much around the children," he replied. "They are less of a threat."

"Until they get a hold of the mixing spoons, anyway."

He snorted, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Perhaps you should teach them about the more poisonous plants in your repertoire. They are likely to excel in that field more than their swordplay." She tugged on his hair, encouraging him to lean backward and submerge his head.

He did as she bade but immediately spun around, grabbing her around the waist and settling her into his lap before resurfacing. Kagome chuckled, knowing it would happen. She draped her arms over his shoulders, stealing a kiss before he'd wiped the water from his face.

"I didn't actually bring you here to entice you," she said.

"You entice me by existing, mate," he replied, nipping at the mark on her neck. A shiver ran down to her toes, as it often did, claws stroking her hips.

"Very smooth. That'll earn you a return trip after the kids have gone to bed." She smirked as the muscles along his jaw tightened.

"Why not now?"

"You left them alone for less than ten minutes, and look what happened to your hair," she chided. "The paints will only distract them for so long, and Jaken is no help."

He sighed, resting his forehead against her shoulder, and she knew he was pouting. She stroked his hair, relieved to get her fingers through it without catching them on whatever their children had detonated in the kitchen. "You are not allowed to be this alluring when you are naked."

She smirked, tweaking his ear. "I'm the most alluring when I'm naked. It's why you mated me in the first place."

"Amongst a myriad of other things."

A crash sounded in the distance, followed by indignant squawking, and Kagome groaned. "Let's get the kids to bed, and you tell me all about them." She kissed the mark on his brow. "And I can tell you about all the reasons I said yes in the first place."

"How many do the stripes account for?"

"At least fourteen."

His grin turned feral as he did the math on his head, stealing a kiss for himself before they rose from the water, the promise of later burning in his eyes as they dried off.